RIP
by GhostCalumon
Summary: That should have been it, end of story. Rippen was supposed to go to sleep and then wake up the next morning having forgotten the whole thing, but he couldn't. The minute he closed his eyes, he would get this feeling that something or someone was standing right next to his bed. Watching him as he tossed and turned...
1. A Month

A month.

That's how long it had been since Rippen finally got one over on that goody two shoes Penn Zero.

He could still remember it clearly. The rush of adrenaline that pumped through his veins as the timer had slowly counted down. They were in a world where monsters and humans were at war, and it was his job to wipe out the entire human race with a bomb that contained a deadly virus. He had laughed as Penn and his friends were surrounded by his henchmen. Now that he thought about it, the boy had been acting rather strange that day. He was late to Rippen's class during school, a whole half hour. If there was one class Penn was always on time for, he noted silently to himself, it was _his_ just for the sake of bantering with him. Heck, Penn had even shown up early a few times just to start their usual back and forth.

No, there was definitely something wrong _that_ day. Rippen hadn't noticed. He was too caught up in the moment of finally tasting victory. When he ordered his henchmen to attack them, he had expected Penn and his friends to fight back. His friends did, but Penn hadn't moved an inch.

Rippen hadn't noticed until there was a bloodcurdling scream of pain. He had heard the boy scream in pain before, but never as bad as that. It was as if everything froze at that moment. A large bloody and _deep_ gash coated Penn's side in crimson, and for a split second a thought crashed into Rippen's head. A single phrase he had never even fathomed for all his life.

" _This is going too far…"_

He had looked at Larry, who had gone uncharacteristically silent. His hands to his mouth and his eyes filled with both fear and worry. Another scream turned his attention back to the battle as he realized that Penn still wasn't fighting back.

"What's the matter boy?" Rippen remembered saying in a mocking tone to try to cover his growing concern for his arch-rival "Too weak to fight a single monster?"

Penn didn't respond.

That, Rippen thought, should have been his signal to stop the monsters. Rippen may not have known Penn for the longest time, but he did know this. If there was one thing Penn Zero loved more than adventure, it was exchanging words of witty banter with Rippen.

However, he didn't stop the monsters, he didn't say a single thing.

All he did was turn around and watch the countdown clock.

Rippen held his paint brush in a tight fist. His knuckles turned white as he squeezed it tighter and tighter and tighter-SNAP.

Rippen simply sighed and added another broken brush to the pile, before he grabbed another from a nearby cup.

It was his day off from the villain work. Since he had become a Full-Time Villain he had to put in a lot more work than when he was only Part-Time. However, that day was a day he could step away from all the universe hopping and think. This was something he had been trying to avoid.

"You can't work _all_ the time, Rippen!" Larry had said earlier that morning as they were entering the teacher's lounge to get cups of coffee "I mean between this and Villain work, you barely have any time to yourself! It's important to take it easy sometimes. Better for your body, your mind and your soul."

Rippen scoffed as he painted a jagged red line down the center of his canvas. Was stirring on the death of one's rival good for one's body, mind, and soul? He had realized far too late what Penn's death meant and how it affected his own life. Without Penn, who was going to insult him and push him to be a better villain? Without Penn, who was going to drive him crazy while he worked during school hours? Who was going to greet him with that same "Mornin' Rip!" as he walked into the classroom like he owned the place? Without a Hero, life as a Villain was _boring_.

Sure the sidekick, Sashi, had taken over as Penn's replacement. However, Rippen could see her struggling. Penn was a natural born strategist, diplomat, and leader. Sashi, on the other hand, was the muscle and intimidation factor of their group. It was because of that why, during the first few weeks without Penn, Rippen decided to go easy on them. He knew they were hurting, and hurting _badly_. He didn't miss the dirty looks Boone and Sashi would fling his way during art class, only to turn their attention back to their projects with deep frowns on their faces.

Rippen shook his head and simply continued painting. He wasn't sure why he had decided to stay at the school after it had let out. He could have just packed up his things and left for home, but for some reason he felt that the confines of his apartment weren't comforting. The noisy cars on the street, the people walking and talking down below on the sidewalk, all these sounds Rippen thought of as white noise suddenly seemed to blast in his ears. So he had decided to resign himself to the quiet walls of the art room, where he currently found himself painting a forest in autumn.

Rippen set aside the brush he had been using and went to pick up another when he heard a sound. It was so soft Rippen was surprised he was able to catch it at all. His gaze turned towards his desk where the sound originated from. He put his brush down on the nearby table and stalked over toward the desk. There was no one hiding underneath it, or behind it, however something did catch Rippen's eye as odd.

One of the drawers was slightly opened.

Hesitantly, Rippen pulled the drawer open all the way. He couldn't help but roll his eyes at the stack of paper inside. It wasn't paperwork, but instead insulting drawings of Rippen all signed in the same messy signature which read:

'PENN ZERO'

Rippen picked them up and started shuffling through them. He couldn't help but huff at a few of the insults written next to his less-than-flattering likenesses.

"A sewage bather indeed, Zero. At least my hair didn't look like a rat and his entire extended family lived in it." Rippen couldn't help but laugh sadly at his one sided banter, knowing the person he targeted it at wouldn't be able to respond.

He froze.

He could have sworn he just heard-

"Penn?" Rippen turned around, eyes quickly scanning the room for the source of the sound - no - for the source of the _laughter_ he had just heard. Nobody. He was all alone in the dark art room. Rippen took one last look around the room before slowly turning back around to put the stack of doodles back in his desk. The hair on the back of his neck rose and he had the sudden feeling he was being watched. He moved slowly, straining his ears for any kind of sound indicating that there was someone in the room with him.

Silence.

Rippen felt a knot twist in his stomach mixed with a rare twinge of fear and paranoia. He took a deep breath, silently assured himself he was just imagining things and walked back over to the easel with his painting. He reached for the paintbrush he had left on the table and-wait. He looked around for the missing brush, hadn't he left it on the table?

It took him a minute to see it was placed neatly on the easel at the base of his painting.

"Odd…" He mused to himself as he picked up the brush "I could have sworn I left it…" He trailed off, casting a glance at the table and then to the brush in his hands "I must be imagining things."

No matter how much he tried to shake it though, he just couldn't get rid of the feeling like something was watching him. Sometimes he would look over his shoulder when he thought he felt something brush against him, or jump when he could have sworn he felt something breathing on his neck, but every time he was just met with an empty room and the hollow silence.

After about the sixth time he felt something brush his shoulder, Rippen decided to call it quits. He washed his brushes, packed up his things, and left the art room; locking the door on the way out. He quickly walked towards his car, not caring if the water sprinklers got him a little wet. Rippen just knew that he had to get _out_ of there.

He tossed his suitcase in the passenger's seat and got into the driver's side. Shoving his key into the ignition and starting it up.

Even though Rippen was driving away from the school, he still couldn't shake the feeling that he was being watched.

On his drive home he would constantly check the rear view mirror. He remembered how Penn would sometimes sneak rides to the Theater in the back of his car. He always wondered how he did that without Rippen noticing. Now though, it felt like he was almost _expecting_ Penn to just suddenly appear in the back seat.

Every once and awhile Rippen's eyes would catch a flash of orange in the rearview mirror, causing Rippen to instantly check to see if the teenager was, in fact, back there. He never was.

Rippen almost loudly sighed with relief when he saw the familiar brick walls of his apartment building. He found a nice parking space and hurriedly made for the front doors.

He didn't look back when he thought he heard the sound of another set of footsteps following him as he climbed the stairs up to his floor.

He didn't look back when he could have sworn he saw something orange out of the corner of his eye.

He did look back though, when he heard the sound of laughter again as he opened his front door. The sound of tin laughter from a familiar Sit-Com blasting from a TV down the hall met Rippen's ears.

"I must be imagining things…" He said to himself as he entered his apartment.

The rest of the afternoon was uneventful. He had forgotten to go shopping so he simply ordered Chinese food. When his food had arrived he sat down and watched television. That was all he did till 10 PM that night. No weird sensations of being watched, no flashes of orange, no nothing. He used that to justify that he had only imagined the whole ordeal, and then decided to go to bed.

Rippen got changed into his pajamas, grabbed Freddy, and climbed into bed. That should have been it, end of story. Rippen was supposed to go to sleep and then wake up the next morning having forgotten the whole thing, but he couldn't. The minute he closed his eyes, he would get this feeling that something or someone was standing right next to his bed. Watching him as he tossed and turned. The hair on the back of his neck rose again, and that paranoid feeling from earlier returned full force. He groaned as he opened his eyes and looked at his alarm clock on his end table.

1:00 AM

He groaned again, louder that time as he yet again tried to shake that uncomfortable feeling. Eventually he just decided to stay in one position, and ignore it. Which actually seemed to work.

Ever so slowly the feeling of a presence beside his bed faded, and Rippen found himself able to relax again. He let out a small sigh of relief as he allowed all the muscles in his body to slowly unwind. His breathing became slow and calm. Rippen could feel the black tendrils of sleep pulling him ever so gently into-

"Evenin' Rip!"

Rippen's eyes shot open and he immediately sat up, staring at the figure sitting- no - _floating_ in mid air.

"I must be imagining things." He found himself saying for the third time that day.

"Ha! You wish you old sewage bather!"

Rippen found himself face to face with Penn Zero.


	2. Seen a Ghost

"This can't be happening…" Rippen said running a hand through his hair "You're dead, you're not supposed to be here! This _cannot_ be happening!"

"Well this _is_ happening Rippen. You better digest that fact fast or else this is going to be a very boring conversation." Penn said, leaning back in the air and folding his arms behind his head as if he were casually sitting in a chair.

Ripen sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. He took a few deep breaths to clear the initial shock. Once he was calm he looked back up at the floating teenager. His clothes looked dirty, ragged and even torn in a few places. Now that Rippen actually took a good look at the boy, all his colors seemed to be washed out and dull. His hair wasn't as bright an orange as it had been, his skin was unnaturally pale and his eyes had gone from bright lively blue to a deep dark grey.

"You're dead…" Rippen stated, earning himself a scoff from the teenager.

"Really? That's how you decide to start this off? No "Hi Penn!" or "Nice to see you again after about an eternity not seeing you-" Penn stopped mid sentence "Uh…" He scratched the back of his head "How long _has_ it been since I died anyway?"

"You mean, you don't know?" Rippen asked. He sat up a little straighter, his interest piqued.

"Uh, no not… Not really." Penn floated down to the floor, opting to stand at the foot of Rippen's bed "Has it been long?"

Rippen was silent as he stared at the being who was his arch-rival in life. The teenager shifted under his gaze, uncomfortably shuffling his feet on the carpet.

"It's been a month, boy." Rippen finally responded.

"A month?!" Penn shot off the floor and back into the air "But-But I could have sworn it was only a few days ago…"

"Perhaps your death has skewed your perspective on time." The gears turned in Rippen's head as he thought about this "But how could you not notice that an entire month has passed? Surely you've seen everything that's been happening in your absence."

Penn shook his head "I only just got here today."

"Today?" Rippen gave him a bewildered look "What do you mean you got here _today?_ "

At this question Penn seemed to fall into deep thought, as if he was trying to figure out how to explain his experience.

"Okay…" Penn started "Okay so… When I died, I wasn't here. I mean, I wasn't on Earth anymore, I think. There was a light but when I went towards it, something pulled me back. Not willingly mind you, I went down kicking and screaming." The boy rubbed his arm and looked down to the floor "After that I couldn't see the light anymore and there was nothing but black void for miles. I wandered for what felt like forever, until I saw another light. I ran towards it and when I reached it well…" Penn gestured around himself "I found myself back in Middleburg as a-"

"As a ghost..." Rippen finished for him with a sigh.

"Yeah..."

"Wait a second!" Rippen glared at Penn with an expression of disbelief "The moment you find out you're a ghost, the first thing you decide to do is haunt me?!"

Penn smiled and laughed "What can I say, Rip? You're too much fun to mess with."

Rippen put a hand to his face. A familiar mixed feeling of hatred and frustration towards Penn Zero had returned. It seemed even in death, Rippen could never be truly rid of his nemesis. Not that he was complaining, of course. He would never admit it, but he had missed the teenager in his month of absence. However, something about this whole scenario just felt wrong. The gears in Rippen's head started to turn again as his scientific mind got to work. He wasn't an expert on ghosts, or the supernatural, however from his basic understanding he knew that not crossing to the other side was bad. The question was, would Penn agree that this would be a problem? In Middleburg, Penn had friends and family. Whatever lied in the realms of Death, Penn had nothing. Nothing to motivate him from going… Or something was _keeping_ him from going. From the way Penn described his experience, it sounded like something prevented him from "Crossing Over" as so many psychics on television called it. The question was… What?

"Uh, Earth to Rippen. Having fun in Lala Land there, pal?"

Rippen looked up from his lap and towards Penn's voice. He nearly jumped when he saw how close Penn was floating towards his face.

"What's the matter? You look like you've seen a ghost." The boy said with a huge grin on his face after uttering the atrocious pun.

"It seems as a ghost you've lost the concept of personal spa-" Rippen had raised an arm to push Penn's face away. However that only succeeded in having his arm go through the boy's head. A shiver ran up his back at the sudden change in temperature his arm had experienced. Penn quickly pulled away, clearly surprised.

"Whoa, okay that felt… Weird." Penn stated as he shuttered "And gross."

Rippen inspected his arm where he could see a slight amount of frost had formed on his pajama sleeve. That meant that the atmosphere inside Penn's form was bordering on thirty-two degrees Fahrenheit. He wondered if the boy could feel how cold he actually was, but he didn't _seem_ cold. Perhaps since he had no nerves… No he had felt Rippen's arm pass through him, meaning he could still feel things-

The sound of fingers snapping brought Rippen's attention back to the boy.

"Geez, you just keep spacing out tonight!"

"Well, excuse me for finding it hard to keep my concentration. Those of us who still have organic brains aren't used to staying up till-" Rippen looked at his alarm clock "-1:30 in the morning without at least _some_ form of sleep. Why did you even decide to reveal yourself so late at night anyway? Why didn't you just do it at the school?"

"Uh…" Penn's cheeks flushed (Despite not having any veins. Rippen noted to look into that later) "To be honest I kinda figured out how to do that just now."

Rippen crossed his arms and raised an eyebrow "So you're not used to you're new ghostly body? If it can even be called that." He looked the teen up and down and started muttering "It looks like you're made up of some form of substance that-"

Penn cut him off with a groan.

"What?"

"You were about to go into another one of your muttered rants again."

"I do _not_ rant. Larry rants, I don't."

"Uh, yeah, you kind of do. Everybody notices during Art Class and let's not forget that time in the Cereal Mascot world."

" _That_ was just a tactic to try to prevent you and your little friends from finding out the Milkman's plan."

"Suuuure it was." Penn rested his head in one of his hands "Anyway, it's been a nice chat, but now that I know how to actually appear to other people, I'm gonna go." He turned and floated over towards the window.

"Wait." Rippen said, causing the boy to pause "Where are you even going?"

Penn simply smiled "To see what's been going on while I was away!"

Before Rippen could respond, the ghost was gone. He sighed and rubbed his temples, feeling the beginning of a headache coming on. Penn Zero was annoying enough in life, but in death? As a ghost with spectral abilities? The boy was reckless enough when he played around with the given abilities his new bodies would come with, however those antics were only contained to a single dimension. Lord only knew what shenanigans Penn would try to pull with these new abilities in his own dimension that had access to the entire multi-verse.

"I'm too tired to deal with this." Rippen said as he fell back on his pillow and slept.

Rippen's mind came into a groggy form of consciousness when he heard his alarm clock blaring loudly besides his head. He slowly opened his eyes to read the clock.

6:00 AM it proclaimed with flashing numbers.

He groaned and lifted a hand up to silence the alarm. He felt slow and tired due to the lack of sleep, but forced himself to get up and get ready for the long day ahead. He went through his normal morning routine without fail.

Use the bathroom, brush teeth, get dressed, make breakfast, drink coffee, drive to the school.

It was so normal, in fact, he had completely forgotten about the _problem_ that kept him awake that night. That is, until that same _problem_ came rushing towards him at top speed while he was walking down Water Sprinkler Row.

"Rippen!"

"Penn Zero?!" The memories flashed back into his mind.

Penn was speeding towards him; arms drawn forwards in the classic pose super heroes would always fly around in comic books. Rippen noticed a bit too late how he wasn't decreasing in speed as he got closer. Before the older man could react, he felt extremely cold in his mid region and a small layer of frost accumulated on his dress shirt. Penn had flown right through his abdomen and began to circle him, laughing like a maniac.

Rippen rubbed the area where Penn had phased through him, frowning that his shirt was becoming wet by the melting frost. He glared up at Penn when the boy stopped in front of Rippen, casually lounging in the air like he was having the time of his life or afterlife, rather.

"Geez Rip, you look like you went ten rounds with a bear." Penn said with a lazy grin as he bobbed up and down in the air. In the daylight, Rippen could see how transparent Penn had become. He figured the transparency didn't stand out as much at night.

"I was kept up by _you_ , boy." Rippen narrowed his eyes; his voice was filled with annoyance "Or did you forget our little encounter last night?"

"Oh no, I didn't forget." Penn crossed his arms and huffed "Mainly because that was the only real conversation I had last night…"

"What do you mean by that?"

"After I left your place, I decided to go visit Boone. I knew he'd be awake at two in the morning because Wednesday night is always Taco Night and those things do a number on him. I tried to appear to him like I did with you, but no matter what I did he couldn't see me. I started moving stuff around and he didn't seem to notice or care. I even tried to appear to some random old guy on the street, but that didn't work either."

"So you think only I can see you." Rippen said as he put a hand to his chin and stroked his goatee.

"It'd make sense, since you _are_ the one that killed me after all." Penn said in a matter-of-fact tone "That's always how it is in the movies."

"I didn't kill you directly. If you want to be technical, Zero, the _monster_ killed you. I just told it to go attack you."

"Well you must have done _something_ if I wasn't fighting it. Drugged me, perhaps?"

Rippen was about to retort, but stopped when he realised what Penn had just said. He blinked, wearing a confused expression that seemed to catch Penn's attention.

"What are you talking about, boy? I didn't do anything to you. The first time I saw you that day was Class, to which you were a whole half an hour late might I add. After that I didn't see you until the mission."

Penn's eyes widened "Late? For _your_ class? Why would I miss our usual lightning round of insults?"

Rippen simply shrugged. Silence fell between the two, as they thought. Penn seemed to have no memory about acting strange that day. He remembered everything else just fine, but that particular fact was lost to the boy.

"Something's up…" Penn whispered to himself, yet loud enough for Rippen to hear.

"Yes, something strange is definitely going on."

…

"Well?"

"Huh? Well what?"

"This is usually the part in the movies where the person who is alive and can see the ghost decides to help them out with solving the mystery of their death."

"What?! You expect me to help _you?_ My arch-nemesis?!"

"Well yeah, I mean you're the only person who can see me and I can't really do this on my own."

"There might not even _be_ a mystery, boy! You could have just simply forgotten it. It's perfectly normal to forget things!"

"But for a ghost, Rippen-?!"

"No buts! I am not going to help you. Besides, I'm far too busy with my work to waste time helping a _ghost_ of all things." Rippen stepped around the floating teenager and simply walked down the road toward the school doors. Penn didn't follow.

The school day went by uninterrupted, however every once and a while Rippen could have sworn he saw Penn ducking around a corner or behind something. Every time he saw this, he sighed. Penn wasn't going to give up was he? That was something they shared, he supposed. They were both stubborn and determined for things to go their way.

After the school day was finished, he cleaned up the art room and went to meet Larry at the school's entrance.

"Wow, Rippen. Are you feeling okay?" Larry asked with concern in his eyes.

"I'm feeling fine Larry, just tired. I didn't get much sleep last night."

"Aww, did someone have nightmares that kept them up all night?"

"No Larry, I didn't have any nightmares."

"I'll bring you some warm cookies and milk tonight to help you go to sleep!"

"I don't _want_ any c- actually that does sound good..."

Rippen heard a snicker coming from behind him. He spun around and looked for the source of the noise.

"Rippen?" Larry tapped his shoulder "You alright? What's wrong? You look like you've seen a ghost."

"I thought I heard… Never mind... Come on, we have to get to Fish Stick on a Stick for today's mission."

They both left the building, but not before Rippen took one last look around.

The drive was annoying. Larry started telling one of his endless stories, something about how he mistook fiberglass insulation for cotton candy. After what felt like forever, they finally reached their destination. Rippen parked in front of the abandoned restaurant and got out of the car, Larry following close behind.

Rippen stopped, and looked over toward the Odyssey theater entrance where he saw a familiar silhouette.

Penn was leaning casually against one of the boarded up doorways, watching as Sashi and Boone arrived. The two teenagers didn't even look in Rippen's general direction as they entered the building. Once they were inside, Penn's gaze turned to Rippen. He quirked an eyebrow, as if silently asking him if he had changed his mind about helping him. Rippen simply scowled and marched into the restaurant.

"Today you go to world of-" Phil had started saying as they walked in, but Rippen cut him off.

"I don't care, just zap us in _now._ " He demanded in a harsh tone. He didn't want to stick around anymore.

At least he'd be able to get _some_ form of peace during the mission.

At least he'd be able to get away from Penn...

Rippen and Larry stepped onto the platform in their respective spots. The taller man closed his eyes as Phil lifted them up in the beam. The sudden feeling of weightlessness made a bit of excitement rush through Rippen's veins. He always got a little excited whenever they zapped, always curious about the dimensions they wound up in. He felt himself being moved forward and heard the sound of the portal doors opening. For a brief moment, the motion reminded him of flight. Flying free. Floating. Penn's ghost hovering above the ground. He exhaled sharply and pushed those thoughts away. He wasn't going to let Penn distract him from his mission. The boy had done that enough when he was still alive.

Rippen opened his eyes as he was shoved into the portal.


	3. What Are You?

Rippen briefly recalled the first time he had zapped on his first mission. He was young, still in school, when he decided to follow in the family business. He had been extremely disorientated when he had been placed in his new body for that mission. Then again, zapping was always disorientating to first-timers. It was a common side effect. It felt as if they have lived in the body their whole life, yet paradoxically they've only just been born. One knew the motions already, as if they were born like that, but at the same time it felt alien and new. The sensation never truly went away, no matter how experienced the person was, but it faded slightly over time.

It was that sensation Rippen experienced as he was zapped into his next mission. He took a deep breath through his nose, taking in the smell of chemicals, mold, and rot. Before he did anything though, he had to go through his normal post-zap routine. He looked down at himself, flexing and experimenting with his limbs. He was dressed in silk robes that were all different hues of green. He _looked_ human enough, from what he could see he had two legs and arms - oh wait. A motion under his robes caught him off guard. He pushed aside the cloth to see he had yet another set of arms positioned right underneath his normal pair. It was a bit jarring, but Rippen quickly adjusted himself to compensate. He decided to take in his surroundings as he experimentally moved his new set of arms to get used to the motions.

He was in what appeared to be some sort of Medieval laboratory. The walls were lined with shelves of potions and ingredients. Books and equipment laid strewn about the room on large wooden tables. Somehow Rippen knew exactly which potion did what, which ingredients would come together perfectly, what books to find what spell. Ah yes, knowledge that was not his own. Yet another side effect of zapping. What would take years of learning and research only took mere moments for him to know. It was like taking another person's memories and copy & pasting it into his head.

A small cough to his left alerted Rippen that he was not alone. He turned to see what was quite obviously Larry, easy to identify by the bright green Spectacles on his face. He too was dressed in green robes, yet lacked the extra set of arms Rippen had gained. Instead he had small horns poking out from his head, skin such a deep blue it almost looked completely black, and eyes devoid of any iris or pupil.

"Okay! Let's see what we have here…" Larry said with a smile as he pressed the small button on the side of the Spectacles. A bright holographic orb appeared in front of him, displaying the mission as Larry explained.

"We're Necromancers. You're Lord Disasteric and I am your apprentice Pinnbly. We have to go to the Cathedral of Souls, get the Book of Forbidden Names, and use it to call a powerful demon to this realm under your service."

"Sounds simple enough." Rippen stated as he grabbed a staff that had been leaning on the wall next to him.

"Wait, there's more." Larry said as he scrolled through the mission details "The Cathedral is extremely dangerous because it's guarded by ghost warriors who are lead by Lady Pheonix. We need to get past her if we want the book."

Rippen groaned, it was like the multi-verse hated him. All the events with Penn back home had him sick and tired of ghosts, and yet the mission that day just _had_ to have more of them. He pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed.

"Alright..." He stated "Let's get started." Rippen turned to the hoard of stuffed shelves and drawers and got to work. From what it sounded like, Lady Pheonix was undoubtedly the girl Sashi. However in this business, it was never safe to assume. Rippen worked extremely fast as he brewed several potions, probably because of the extra set of arms. Four arms were surprisingly better than two. Occasionally he would turn to Larry and ask him to hand him a jar or an ingredient. It wasn't too long before they were ready to raid the Cathedral.

However, while they were doing their final checks for supplies, Rippen spied something. A book. It was small, bound together by leather and string. The pages were yellowed and torn in a few places, as if it had seen a lot of use. Curious, Rippen decided to leaf through it.

" _A Beginner's Guide to Ghosts and Specters."_ The title read in faded ink.

Rippen raised his eyebrows and began digging deeper into the tome. Perhaps this could give him better insight to his little "problem" back in Middleburg. Not to help the boy, but simply to gain more knowledge on the subject. Before he could really start to focus though Larry called him away, telling him it was time to get going. Rippen hesitated before slipping the small book into his robe, perhaps he'd have time to read it at some point during the mission. A small pause in the combat long enough for him to find what he was looking for? Of course that was just wishful thinking.

Unfortunately for Rippen, there was no proper time to read the book. He was correct in thinking that Lady Pheonix was Sashi, while Boone was Captain of the Phantom Guard that protected the Cathedral. The battle was fierce, but no matter how hard he tried Rippen's thoughts kept wandering back to the small book hidden in his robes. The Book of Forbidden Names wasn't the book he was putting into priority during this mission. Rippen had to read it, call it intuition, but he just _knew_ something important was written in the small guide. Something that would help him better understand what was going on back in Middleburg. However, there was no way he could read it. Not with the mission. If he didn't read the book before this mission was done, then there would be no way for him to find it again. Unless… Unless he smuggled it back to Middleburg.

It was possible. There was a significant glitch in the QPC when it came to possessions being carried by the person. Which was why they always had to empty their pockets before they zapped. One couldn't accidentally leave a cellphone in a world that was still in its Medieval Era. This glitch was often exploited by Penn when he had been alive, with his MUHU. However the MUHU was specially made to traverse universes; the small guide was made of leather, string, and paper. There was no way of knowing if it would fall apart or downright disintegrate by traveling through the portal. He would have to take the risk and hope Phil didn't notice.

Unfortunately due to Rippen's mind being occupied on smuggling the small book back to his own world; the mission ended in failure.

Rippen laid on the ground, surrounded by the broken remains of his undead army that had been brutally ripped apart by Sashi. He felt a prickling sensation running up his spine and his eyes shot open. He only had a split second to act before he and Larry were zapped back.

Acting fast, Rippen took something out of his pocket. It was one of his business cards that he always brought with him. He took the card and slipped it into the inside cover of the book. Just as he did this there was a flash of light and the feeling of him being pulled out of his own body. Next thing he knew he was being pulled out of the portal in Fish Stick on a Stick. The first thing he did was look down at his hands, he had to fight the urge to smile when he saw the book was still there. A little burnt but still there. He quickly hid it behind his back as Larry turned to him.

"Are you okay Rippen?" Larry asked with a concerned look in his eyes "That was your first loss in a long time."

"I'm fine Larry." Rippen assured with a small roll of his eyes.

"Really? I thought for sure you'd be furious! After all, it's your first lose since Penn…" Larry trailed off, falling silent for a moment before starting up again "Anyway, it's not like you to be so calm about losing a mission."

"I said I was _fine_ , Larry" The taller man stated as he started walking towards the door "Besides, I must admit I was feeling a little off my game today. I'll win tomorrow, you'll see. Now do you need a ride home?" He paused at the door, and turned to Larry when he asked the question.

"Uh no I'll be-"

"Good, see you tomorrow" He cut Larry off and hurried out the door. He couldn't afford to waste time on anybody, he had to get home. Rippen quickly strode to his car, but a hand prevented him from opening the door.

"Hey Rippen." Sashi said with a smug look on her face "How's it feel? Finally tasting defeat after such a long time? Bet you missed it, seeing how often you used to lose before."

Rippen groaned. Of course the young girl would want to rub her victory in his face "I don't have time for this." He muttered and going to grab for the door handle, only for Sashi to grab his wrist and twist it in a painful direction.

"Listen up you spiky-haired green-skinned heartless _freak_ " Sashi hissed as she pulled him closer so they were eye to eye "Today was only a little preview of what's to come. You might think we're weaker after what happened to Penn, but we're gonna show you that we don't need Penn in order to kick your sorry little-!"

"Sashi." Boone placed a hand on the girl's shoulder, tearing her attention to the larger boy who seemed tense "Just… Drop it, okay? Let's just go."

Sashi hesitated a moment before letting go of Rippen's wrist, now extremely sore. There was no doubt in Rippen's mind that it was going to bruise. The two teenagers walked away, but not before Sashi gave Rippen a threatening glare.

Rippen waited till they were out of sight until he got into his car.

The ride home was uneventful; bordering on completely and utterly normal. It was until he got into his apartment that he was brutally reminded how abnormal his life had become. When Rippen walked through the door of his apartment, he heard the television blasting in the other room. He followed the loud noises to his small living room to find the source of all his problems.

Penn was casually lounging on Rippen's couch, taking up the whole thing as he watched the loud action movie that was playing on the television. Next to him sat a large bowl of popcorn. Penn's attention turned from the TV to Rippen who was simply staring at him from the doorway.

"Heyyy welcome back Rippen." Penn greeted in a relaxed tone with a small wave of his transparent hand "How was the mission?"

Rippen blinked but then sighed, he really should have expected something like this "Penn, what are you doing in my apartment?"

"Watching a movie." The boy simply stated.

"I mean _WHY_ are you watching a movie in _my_ house?"

"Well I figured it would be alright since ya know, you're the only person who can see me. Plus if I pulled this at my own house, Uncle Chuck and Aunt Rose would probably flip out and have the place exorcised." Penn explained as he popped a piece of popcorn into his mouth.

"...How are you even eating that?" Rippen asked, completely confused.

"I have no idea, but the good news is I can still taste things."

Could ghosts even eat? If so, where would the food go? Ghosts didn't have stomachs. How could Penn be doing any of this if he was supposed to be a non-corporeal being with no need for nourishment? These questions reminded Rippen of the book he had smuggled into Middleburg.

Rippen hurried over to his desk, ignored Penn curiously calling his name, and got out _"A Beginner's Guide to Ghosts and Specters."_ Opening the singed leather cover to read the contents inside. Rippen wasn't even done with the first paragraph when he felt the hair on the back of his neck rise, indicating Penn was hovering close to him.

"What's that?" He heard Penn's voice uncomfortably close to his ear, making him jump.

"It's a book." He stated simply before turning back to the old tome.

"Where'd it come from?"

"None of your business."

Penn was silent for a few minutes before he decided to play Rippen's least favorite game: The Guessing Game

"Did you find it in a dumpster?"

"No."

"Did you… Steal it from an old lady?"

"No."

"Did yooooou… Take it from a creepy guy in an alley?"

"No."

"Did you find it after you-"

"If you simply _must_ know Penn," Rippen snapped as he turned in his chair "I smuggled it out of the dimension we visited today for the mission! Happy? Good, now if you would _please_ be quiet."

"You took it from the other dimension?! Isn't that against the rules?"

Rippen took a deep breath before answering " _Yes._ And I am fully aware of the consequences if anyone were to find out. Now please leave me alone until I'm finished reading it."

For once, Penn actually listened to him. The boy fell silent and watched him for a few minutes before he floated back over to the couch. Lazily slumping against the cushions and continuing to watch his movie.

The two sat like that for hours, in near complete silence. The only sounds were the shuffling of pages from Rippen's book, and the loud explosions coming from the TV.

It was late at night when Rippen finally finished reading the last page in the book. Since it was such a small book, it was an extremely easy read, especially for one who was as intelligent as himself. He closed the book with a small-thump-and got up from his chair. He seemed confused and deep in thought as he wandered over to his refrigerator and got himself a glass of water. With glass in hand he walked over to the couch and took a seat when Penn made him some room.

Rippen didn't focus on the TV or his glass though, instead all he did was stare at Penn with the most confused look on his face. It took the teenage boy a few moments before realizing this.

"Uh, what's that look for?" Penn asked, a little weirded out that Rippen was staring at him.

Rippen looked down at his glass, eyes calculating. One could practically see the gears turning in his head.

"What _are_ you?" He muttered quietly.

"I'm a ghost Rippen, we've been over this." Penn said with a huff.

"No, you're not."

"Huh? What do you mean I'm not, what else _could_ I be? I'm transparent, I can float, I can go through walls for pete sake!"

"Yes, but" Rippen's gaze shifted from the glass to Penn "You can also _eat_ , you can _feel_ , you can _taste_ , you leave frost behind when you phase through objects, you can interact with the physical plain, and you still have a sense of self." Rippen paused a moment to let that sink in before continuing "The book I just read informed me of the many things ghosts can and cannot do. Ghosts are beings who fail to fully maintain their sense of self, losing themselves to an obsession. This obsession ties them to a place or person. However, they are unable to interact with the physical plain as _you_ have been. You're making indents in the couch cushions as if you actually hold _weight._ You leave physical evidence of your presence via frost, which ghosts also cannot do-"

"But Rippen-" Penn tried to interject, but Rippen put a hand up.

"Let me finish."

Penn was silent for a moment before nodding to have Rippen continue.

"Ghosts are not supposed to be able to feel, taste, or smell. They lose three out of the five senses. However you have been displaying that you still, in fact, have all five of your senses. To put it into basic terms, Ghosts are supposed to be beings of instinct and raw emotion driven forward only by a single obsessive desire. You are showing none of these traits. Therefore, there is no possible way you could be a ghost, Penn."

The boy waited until Rippen was finished before he spoke "But you got that book from the other dimension. How do you know that what applied there applies here too?"

"There are certain universal constants. Things that, no matter what universe you're in, will always be the same. Ghosts are one of these universal constants, or rather, what ghosts can or cannot do are universal constants." Rippen explained before taking a sip of his water.

Silence fell between the two for a full ten minutes. Both of them were ignoring the television and instead had lost themselves to their own thoughts. After a while Penn finally asked "If I'm not a ghost… Then what _am_ I?"

Rippen remained silent before responding in a voice barely above a whisper "I don't know."


	4. Three in the Morning

It was three in the morning, and there was nothing to do.

Rippen had decided to go to bed after he revealed that Penn was was, in fact, not a ghost. Leaving the deceased(?) teenager alone with his thoughts. Penn missed being able to sleep, because then he wouldn't _have_ to think about his problems.

He was curled up on Rippen's couch. His legs tucked up against his chest with his arms wrapped around his knees. Penn stared at the opposite wall, his eyebrows knitted together in deep thought. What was he if he wasn't a ghost? Why had he been acting strange the day he died? What was happening to him? There were so many questions with no answers. Nothing was adding up, no matter what theory Penn's mind provided. He sighed in frustration and ran a hand through his hair. Normally that would have been the time Boone spit balled his own thoughts and ideas that were always so silly. Penn was sure Boone did that half the time just to make him feel better. Then his ideas would be shot down by Sashi who would come in with a more violent and direct approach to the situation.

But Boone wasn't there to give him crazy ideas. Sashi wasn't there to criticize Boone and put her own crazy ideas on the table.

It was three in the morning, and Penn was all alone. Well, not _completely_ alone.

Penn turned his head and leaned over to look down the hall at Rippen's bedroom door. From where he sat, he couldn't see the villain but Rippen's snoring was very distinct in the quiet atmosphere of the apartment. He stared at the door for a while before turning back to stare at the wall, a small sigh escaping his lips.

"Come on Zero, _think_ … Why weren't you fighting back? What was keeping you from stopping Rippen? You have to _remember!_ " Penn pulled at his hair frustratingly as he tried to wrack his brain for answers. All he remembered of that day was waking up and his MUHU started ringing. After that his memory was nothing but fuzzy images and blank spots. The only other thing he remembered was a few moments before he died...

 _Penn's side felt like it was burning as the monster's claws ripped through his skin. The boy couldn't keep himself from letting out a large scream. His voice cracked when the monster punched his face, causing him to fly backwards._

" _What's the matter boy?" Penn heard Rippen's voice echo down from the platform above "Too weak to fight a single monster?"_

 _Penn bit his lip and struggled to get up; his side greatly protested against him moving, but he had to! He had to get up, he had to stop Rippen. The countdown clock was almost at zero, he was running out of time! He couldn't keep his mind focused though, something kept distracting him. Something that made him too upset with worry and fear; twisting his stomach into knots as the train of thought seemed to get worse._

 _He looked up when he noticed a shadow fall over him. The monster loomed over him, growling through bared teeth. Penn tried to back away but felt his back hit a wall. The large beast raised it's claw, getting ready to make the final blow._

 _000:000:003…_

 _Penn heard Sashi scream his name from the other side of the room. Followed by the footsteps of his friends rushing to help him._

 _000:000:002…_

 _He saw his friends get blocked by another large monster, preventing them from reaching him._

 _000:000:001…_

 _Rippen's laughter was loud in Penn's ears as he celebrated his victory._

 _000:000:000…_

 _The monster's claw came down and ripped at Penn's chest. His scream was cut off by a bright blue light and then-_

Nothing. Penn couldn't remember anything after that. He sighed and rested his forehead against his knees. What happened to him? After that, Penn could remember waking up in a black nothingness with a distant blue light that had been rapidly fading. He remembered that he had to get to that light before it vanished, so he had started to run. However the more he moved, the more cold and sluggish he felt. He remembered tripping over his own feet as he tried desperately to reach the light before it faded, but he couldn't. The second the light disappeared, it was like winter had arrived in that dark place. It had grown unbearably cold, slicing through his usually warm long sleeved shirt.

He wasn't sure how long he had been in that place at first, but it felt like forever. No matter how hard he tried he couldn't find anything or anyone to help him. He remembered screaming out his friends' names, he even tried calling for his parents for some reason. Just as he was going to give up hope and resign himself to the bitter cold, the light returned. That time he was able to reach it before it vanished and he had found himself in-

Penn paused, his thoughts coming to a grinding halt when he realized something. He slapped himself on the forehead, quietly asking himself why he hadn't remembered it sooner. Penn shot up from the couch and floated over to Rippen's desk. He grabbed a pen and paper and quickly scribbled out a note.

 _Rippen,_

 _Remembered a lead and I'm going to go look into it._

 _Talk to you soon!_

 _-Penn_

He grabbed the note and a piece of tape and floated down the hall to Rippen's room. Sure enough, there was the art teacher sleeping with his stuffed poodle. Penn floated above him and carefully taped the note to Rippen's forehead before flying out the window. The only evidence left behind being the frost left on the glass.

It didn't take long for the young man to find his way to the building that had become the center of his life after that first fateful day of school.

It was three in the morning, and The Odyssey Theater was eerily quiet.

Penn hesitated before he phased through the door, looking around the front lobby. There was no sign of Phyllis or her security bear. Then again, Penn wouldn't have to worry about Karen since she wouldn't be able to see him. Good thing too since that bear could be vicious. He paused as he floated past the Manager's Office that Phyllis used to store most of her more delicate machinery. Curious, Penn decided to poke his head through the door just for a quick peek. He was surprised to see the sleeping form of Phyllis slumped over a desk with spare parts and strange tools scattered all over the place. She must have been working late and fallen asleep.

Penn floated into the room, leaving a small patch of frost on the door behind as he floated closer to Phyllis. He wondered if she had missed him after what had happened. When he had appeared here earlier she seemed like her usual self, but then again looks could be deceiving. He noticed her shiver in her sleep as he floated a little closer. Penn had to keep reminding himself that other people felt cold around him now. The boy looked around the room and spied an old blanket peeking out of a box in the corner. He flew over and grabbed the cloth, then he very carefully draped the blanket over Phyllis' shoulders.

He smiled to himself as he left the room, being careful not to accidentally float into something as he phased through the door again.

"Now to get down to business…" He whispered to himself as he flew through the large double doors into the room that housed the Multi Universe Transprojector. It looked exactly the same as he remembered it, but it seemed a little more eerie at night with all the lights off.

Penn flicked the light switch next to the machine, turning the lights in the room on. He turned to the many monitors on the wall next to the MUT. They displayed random locations all around the Multi-Verse, some Penn even recognised.

He turned his attention down to the keyboard and mouse that laid amongst the plethora of flashing buttons and switches. It took Penn awhile, but he eventually found what he had been looking for.

The Mission Logs.

He scrolled back a few weeks and eventually found the file that contained the events of his last mission. It wasn't too hard to find, since Phyllis seemed to have it marked for some reason. Penn double-clicked on the file, and one of the triangular screens switched from displaying a world made of candy to showing the events of that fateful day.

Penn fast forwarded through the mission, noticing that he had been barely speaking at all through the whole ordeal. Only speaking when spoken to, not cracking any jokes, heck not even laughing when Boone had gotten his head stuck in a crack on a wall. He found himself watching the very ending of the mission, just as he remembered it up until the last second counted down.

 _000:000:000_

 _Boone and Sashi were forced to watch as the monster's claw came down and struck Penn in the chest. There was no time to react though, because a split millisecond later all three of the teenagers were engulfed by a bright blue light._

 _Next thing they knew, they were being pulled out of the portal. Phyllis' face was pale as she seemed to frantically be manning the controls from her platform. It took a moment for Sashi and Boone to realize that the spot in between them, the spot for the Hero, was empty. Penn was gone._

Penn paused the video, eyes squinting as he rewound the footage to play the scene over again. Something wasn't adding up. Something about the footage didn't make sense, but he couldn't put his finger on it.

 _-forced to watch as the monster's claw came down and struck Penn in the chest. There was no time to react though, because a split millisecond later all three of the teenagers were engulfed by a bright blue light._

Rewind.

 _-no time to react though, because a split millisecond later all three of the teenagers were engulfed by a bright blue light._

Rewind.

- _millisecond later all three of the teenagers were engulfed by a bright blue light._

Rewind.

 _-_ _ **all three of the teenagers were engulfed by a bright blue light.**_

Penn paused the video the minute Phyllis started pulling them back, eyeing the blue light that had surrounded not only Boone and Sashi but also and most importantly _himself._ He remembered a long time ago asking Phyllis about what happened if a Hero died during a mission. She had told him that the MUT would be incapable of zapping the dead body back, since it had problems zapping things that were not alive. Things such as clothes and small objects it could handle just fine, but anything larger would be unable to pass through the portal. The footage confirmed his suspicions, when the timer had hit zero and the monster had made it's killing blow, Penn was still alive.

And the blue glow surrounding his form proved it. The MUT still registered him as a living breathing being, but then how come he didn't wind up back in Middleburg and instead in that cold dark place? How come he hadn't been fighting in the first place?

He tried to dig deeper into Phyllis' files, but as he clicked on a folder that seemed important a small notification popped up.

 **USER RECOGNITION IS NEEDED TO ACCESS THESE FILES: Y/N**

Penn hesitated before pressing the Y key.

 **PLEASE PLACE HAND ON SCANNER**

A small panel opened up next to the keyboard, inviting Penn to place his hand on it. He wasn't sure that it was going to work, but decided to give it a try anyway. Slowly he placed his hand on the scanner. He jumped a bit when a blue light quickly flashed across the glass surface of the scanner. He pulled his hand away when he saw the computer actually processing the data it had apparently received. Did it work? Penn's stomach twisted nervously, silently hoping that he'd be able to get more answers to his questions.

The silence was horribly destroyed with the sound of blaring alarms.

"WARNING TRANSDIMENSIONAL THREAT DETECTED. WARNING TRANSDIMENSIONAL THREAT DETECTED." The speakers said loudly in Phyllis' voice as red lights flashed on and off all over the room. Penn was startled and he started flying away from the machine; making a beeline towards the ceiling. He had to get out of there. This turned out to be a bad idea as a strange mechanical eyeball popped out of the ceiling and scanned the room, quickly fixing its gaze on him. It could see him.

"TRANSDIMENSIONAL THREAT FOUND. STAND BY FOR APPREHENSION." The voice over the speakers said.

Suddenly, the air in the room felt energized. As if the air had been filled with static. Penn felt shivers run up his back as he tried to retreat to the doors as fast as he could. The security system seemed one step ahead of him though, and shot a strange beam at Penn's fleeing form. Penn found himself unable to move as suddenly he was flung backwards. His head hit something hard, a dull pain on the back of what used to be his skull. Penn tried to adjust himself as he opened his eyes to find he had been placed in a strange tube. It had a metal framework, and it was just big enough for him to stand to his full height. The defining feature though was the strange glowing material that made up the rest of the tube. It looked almost like a liquid as it's glowing patterns changed and shifted slowly. Penn put a hand against the material and found that no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't phase through it.

Out of pure desperation he started slamming himself against the side of the tube. Phyllis' security system was extremely dangerous, and Penn had a feeling that if she had something that could contain him, then there was no doubt that she probably had something that could harm him too.

"TRANSDIMENSIONAL THREAT IS SHOWING HOSTILE BEHAVIOR. NEUTRALIZING."

Penn's eyes widened when suddenly he felt what seemed like shocks of electricity. He didn't scream though. The pain wasn't that bad. However, he found himself unable to move. He couldn't stand on his legs anymore, causing him to collapse at the bottom of the tube. The sounds of the loud alarms started getting muffled, as if someone had stuffed pillows into Penn's ears. He could have sworn he heard doors slamming open, but he couldn't focus. His mind felt like it was in some kind of fog. It wasn't long after that, Penn's vision went black.

It was three in the morning, and Penn Zero was finally able to sleep.


End file.
